PM 1ghz or 1.25 DP?

[adamfilip]

im having some trouble

i need to decide if i should get a

Summary
. 1GHz PowerPC G4
. 256MB DDR266 SDRAM - 1 DIMM
. 80GB Ultra ATA drive
. Optical 1 - Apple SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)
. Optical 2 - None
. ATI Radeon 9000 Pro w/64MB DDR
. 56K internal modem
. Apple Pro Keyboard - U.S. English
. Mac OS - U.S. English
. APP for Power Mac (w/ or w/o display) - Enrollment Kit

for $3288 (canadian) plus tax

or the

Summary
. Power Mac G4 Dual 1.25GHz w/1MB L3 per proc.
. 256MB DDR333 SDRAM (PC2700) - 1 DIMM
. 80GB Ultra ATA drive
. Optical 1 - Combo Drive (DVD/CD-RW)
. Optical 2 - None
. ATI Radeon 9000 Pro w/64MB DDR
. 56K internal modem
. Apple Pro Keyboard - U.S. English
. Mac OS - U.S. English
. APP for Power Mac (w/ or w/o display) - Enrollment Kit
for $3588 canadian plus tax

the 1ghz machine has a superdrive
the dual 1.25 does not and the dual is still 300 more

im a graphic designer and this will be my first personal mac.. i use g4's at
my work. but im doing more and more design work at home now.

i have a 21 dell trinitron that i will be running either machine.
i would love to get a ACD 20" but its just too much right now. ($2000)

i need a machine that will last me for atleast 3 years

also should i wait for the ibm 970? or get something now?

Adam

adam@filipowicz.ca

 

[edesignuk]

On the basis that you want the machine to last 3 years, and that you do graphic design, I'd say you have to go with the DP1.25Ghz (But please get more RAM, 256Mb WILL NOT BE ENOUGH!).

 

[adamfilip]

i was planing on getting additional ram.. but not from apple as i can get it quite a bit cheaper

 

[macrumors12345]

Re: PM 1ghz or 1.25 DP?

Originally posted by adamfilip
im having some trouble
also should i wait for the ibm 970? or get something now?

Adam

adam@filipowicz.ca

If you can wait until June, it might not be a bad idea to see if they announce anything (i.e. 970) at WWDC. I'm a little skeptical, but I think there's still a good chance that they might announce it. If so, for the price of the DP you'll probably be able to buy something that is more powerful AND has a Superdrive.

Otherwise, unless you definitely know you want to burn DVDs, I'd probably go with the DP. The extra 25% clock speed isn't that big a deal, but the dual processors will be nice for Photoshop and the like. Plus I think it will just be a much more responsive machine in general under heavy loads, even when running apps that are not multithreaded. I have measly iBook 500 right now running 10.2.4, and I don't actually have that much of a problem with the speed at which it runs any given app, but when I start running multiple apps at once (e.g. running iTunes, and switching between, say, Mail, Word, and Safari while I'm working) it really starts to bog down. That wouldn't happen nearly as much with a DP machine.

Plus the DP has some other advantages, like a 167 mhz bus vs. 133 mhz bus and a Radeon 9000 instead of a GF 4MX. And if you really wanted a DVD burner later, you could always buy one from a 3rd party for not that much...

 

[rainman::|:|]

there's absolutely no point in waiting for the 970

buy now... DP1.25 i'd say, if you need a dvd burner later you can always add it... and yeah, more ram, make sure it's from a good dealer, OS X has trouble with some ram-- causes kernal panics. not good. you can still get a 512 meg chip for cheap, that should be enough altogether to get you started...

pnw

 

[Falleron]

I would get the Dual 1.25Ghz machine. Like other people have said, up the memory as much as you can.

 

[benixau]

get a dual. i got one and my bro got an emac.
even in non-DP apps, Mac OS X can divide things between the two procs.

you wont realise it but it will. Multi-thread apps just make it eaasier for the mac. i could explain it but then it would get really technical and i mean, i am a programmer. i know what happens.

believe what you read in this thread, DP is best. SD or no SD

 

[DakotaGuy]

If you need a computer buy it now, who knows how long you might wait on this new computer to be released for sale, it could be December before you can actually get your hands on a 970. If you have the money go for the Dual from everything I have seen and read.

There might be one more bump on the G4's for the last model before the 970's. I think this might happen by June or July and I would think the 1.25 might be the base and the 1.42 might be the middle . Who knows? Everyone thought the G4 was maxed at 1Ghz, then the 1.25 came out, then they all thought it was maxed at 1.25 then the 1.42 came out, so we might see a 1.6 something "nothing held back" at the end to tide us over to the 970.

 

[yzedf]

Originally posted by Abercrombieboy
If you need a computer buy it now, who knows how long you might wait on this new computer to be released for sale, it could be December before you can actually get your hands on a 970.

This is very good advice. Considering Apple's recent history (new PB's and new PM's) of announce now ship much later...

DP is the better deal. $300 for ~30% more power is a good deal. Superdrives tend to not get used that much.

http://www.macpolls.com/?poll_id=158&ref=forums.macrumors.com

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23671